SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - FBI agents were justified in shooting to death a Puerto Rican militant in a September 2005 raid, federal investigators said Wednesday in a report that was dismissed by pro-independence activists as a cover-up. Filiberto Ojeda Rios shot at agents as they came to arrest him at his rural home in western Puerto Rico, justifying their return fire, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General concluded in a 237-page report. Ojeda shot three agents during the raid and one of them was seriously wounded. "He clearly posed an imminent threat to the agents," said the report, which also found authorities were justified in waiting 18 hours to enter the home after Ojeda was shot, out of concern that he or other unknown gunmen still posed a threat. But investigators concluded that the FBI should have anticipated a shootout and attempted to force Ojeda, who had been a fugitive for 15 years, to surrender. Ojeda, 72, was the leader of a militant group that claimed responsibility for bombings and attacks in the 1970s and 1980s aimed at gaining independence for Puerto Rico from the United States. In one of the attacks, gunmen opened fire in 1979 on a bus carrying U.S. sailors, killing two and wounding 10. Hector Pesquera, co-president of an independence group, said the investigators' report was "totally contradictory" because it supported the use of deadly force but also concluded the FBI should have tried harder to apprehend Ojeda — known simply as "Filiberto" to many Puerto Ricans. "This confirms our initial claims that they never had any intention of capturing Filiberto, that they came to kill him, not arrest him," Pesquera said. "When they weren't sure that they killed him outright, they waited until he bled to death." Juan Dalmau Ramirez, secretary-general of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, also dismissed the report. "This report is a cover-up," he said. "If they had followed correct procedures, Filiberto Ojeda would be alive." New York Congressman Jose Serrano, a native of Puerto Rico, said the report confirmed his belief that the FBI should have avoided the confrontation. "I believe that if the FBI had followed procedures, the three FBI agents might not have been shot and Ojeda Rios might not have died," he said. Ojeda was convicted for his role in the 1983 robbery of $7 million from a Wells Fargo bank depot in West Hartford, Conn. He fled while on bond but was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 55 years in prison. In the intervening years, he became something of a folk hero among some Puerto Ricans. He would occasionally grant interviews to reporters on the island and his recorded speeches were played at pro-independence rallies. His death sparked large protests throughout the island. The report contradicted claims by Ojeda's widow, Elma Beatriz Rosado, that the FBI agents opened fire first during the raid, but said she may have been confused by the agent's use of a non-lethal "flash-bang" outside the house. The inspector general also said it found no evidence to confirm media reports that the FBI had information to safely arrest the fugitive away from his home. In a statement, the FBI said it welcomed the inspector general's report and would review its recommendations, which primarily dealt with preparations for this type of raid. "Although careful planning and preparation are part of every arrest scenario undertaken by the FBI, shooting incidents are sometimes an unfortunate result given the nature of the FBI's mission," it said.
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